Oculus slashes price of Rift headset + Touch controllers to $598

Facebook and Oculus are looking to make their brand of high-end virtual reality considerably more affordable with a price slash coming to its Rift headset and Touch motion controllers.

The $599 Rift headset and $199 Touch controllers have both had their prices cut by $100, bringing the bundled price of the two VR products to $598. Consumers can also purchase them separately, with the Rift priced at $499 and the Touch controllers, which were released just three months ago, now costing $99.

Additionally, new Oculus camera sensors are now $59 instead of the original $79.

These aggressive price cuts suggest Oculus is doubling down on getting the device in more consumers’ hands, especially as analysts suggest the company’s headset is being outsold by competing products from Sony and HTC. No official numbers have been shared by either Oculus or HTC, but Sony announced in an interview last week that the company had sold nearly one million PS VR headsets since releasing the device this past October.

Price has been one of the major constricting factors stunting VR headset adoption. Oculus has been churning away at bringing down the price of buying into the Rift ecosystem. One of the major caveats for consumers looking at purchasing a high-end VR headset is the need for an expensive gaming computer. In October, Oculus announced some neat software tricks that allow the Rift to run on more modest devices, using the opportunity to share that CyberPowerPC was selling a $499 PC that met the new minimum requirements.

Teamed with the new price cuts, the Rift is now a considerably cheaper option for prospective PC VR users than HTC’s $799 Vive headset. Both headsets, however, are still left to compete with the less-powerful PS VR, which costs about $499 for a model including a camera sensor and motion controllers.

In my opinion, the superior experience of the Touch controllers and the content ecosystem that Oculus has built make it the best option for those looking to blow a bunch of money on a VR setup. With this new price cut, you can feel a little less guilty doing so.